If the first issue is any indication, this will be a series pretty unique on the shelves. I can’t think of anything that currently has the same tone or feel to it.

There’s a level of fun to it. There’s a couple instances of humor and crazy situations. Iron Fist complaining about getting interrupted well reading comics?

It’s got a “go with the flow” vibe. Red She-Hulk gets told that Hulk asks for help and she just grabs her sword and goes along with it.

But there’s also a bit of seriousness to it. There’s a bit of everything to it.

I absolutely love the little text pieces at the bottom of the pages. You really have to pay attention to them. I remember when comics used to have the “continued after second page” to let you know which pages were ads and which were the story. Those are back. But at the same time Fraction throws other little bits into them as well. How important those will prove to be we’ll have to wait and see. But if they end up being nothing important, it’s still a nice little element added to the book.

Fractions script is light, it’s easy flowing and even the Surfer seems like he’s having a good time. In fact, it comes across like Fraction is having a good time with this story. It’s a fairly standard “assemble the team” story, with each member being given a plausible reason why they are involved. It’s nice seeing how the Surfer and Namor feel about the Hulk compared to everyone else in the world. It shows just how important their days as Defenders were to each of them.

A new story telling mechanism that seems to be cropping up in team books is where the writer gives each character their own chance at narration. Fraction uses this to great effect, helping us get inside each team members heads, helping shape the personalities. The narration doesn’t have a direct coorelation to the story events, but it works in helping each member stand out and be defined. These were characters that were already established, but Fraction seems to give them unique voices that are different from their other appearances, but at the same time still within character.

And they all seem to be having fun.

The art by the Dodson’s is top notch like always. The little details in the background are nice, the different ways the Surfer’s board appears and the light reflecting off of him, all the occult books laying around Strange’s house, all of it is very nice. It’s obvious that Fraction is having fun with the story and Dodson’s art shows that he’s having just as much fun.